Six weeks’ “hands-on” Certificate Course in Palliative Care (CCPC)

Objective:

Course schedule:

The course will be periodically announced on this page, palliumindia blog and on Pallium India’s monthly newsletter. For free subscription to Pallium India’s monthly newsletter, please enter your email id in the column provided in http://palliumindia.org/newsletter/

Medium of Instruction:

English

Eligibility:

The course is open to medical social workers, physiotherapists and psychologists.

How to Apply:

Please download the application form from the link below, fill it up and send it to info@palliumindia.org

Venue:

The course will be held in the institutions and palliative care services attached to Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences (TIPS) including outpatient clinic and home and hospice visits.

Working Hours:

All six weeks will be 6-day weeks. Work starts at 9.00 AM and finishes at 5.30 PM or till clinical work is completed, whichever is later.
If for some reason leave of absence is needed for more than two days for unforeseeable reasons, the duration of the course will be extended by the number of days missed.

The Learning Process:

The bulk of the learning process will be by the bedside, in the outpatient department, in the wards, and at patients’ homes. In addition to home visits, the participant will also attend some peripheral palliative care clinics in some outlying towns.

There will be one or two academic exercises every day – majority of the subjects will be covered in the form of interactive tutorials. Periodically the participant will be expected to make short presentations on some of the subjects as well as to present interesting reports of patients and problems.

All of palliative care cannot be covered in academic programs. The participant is encouraged to explore problems arising during clinical work and initiate academic discussions. We will provide enough flexibility with the academic program to encourage this.

At the beginning of the course, the participant will be given a copy of the book “Introducing palliative care” 4th ed (Robert Twycross) and the INCTR handbook. In addition there will be access to a departmental library and to PubMed and some other academic sites. Those who own a laptop computer are encouraged to bring it, as there is wireless internet connection in the institution.

Log book:

The participant is required to keep a log book of at least five reports – studies of patients – to include initial evaluation, treatment plan and progress over the period studied.

Assignments:

The participant will be given at least one assignment per week. The participant is encouraged to use the library as well as internet to assist the process of doing the assignment. We expect that those who are not familiar with literature search using the internet will learn to do it during this course.

SUBJECTS COVERED BY THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM (TENTATIVE)

WEEK I

Introduction to Palliative care:

What is palliative care?
The WHO definition – old and new – its limitations – the terms hospice care, end-of-life care, supportive care – terminal care – the relevance of these terms in relation to the concept.

Spectrum of diseases needing palliative care in the Indian context.

Concepts of “Disease” Vs “Illness” in medical practice – concept of total care and its components.

Ethics of care: the principles of autonomy; beneficence and non-maleficence; and social justice; their relevance to general medical practice and particularly to palliative care.

Principles of symptom control:

Need for symptom control; avoiding harm from controlling symptoms; the need for symptom control in curable and incurable diseases.

The double effect.

Introduction to Pain:

What is pain? The IASP definition and the relevance of the emotional component.

Disclaimer: Information provided by Pallium India has been collected from different sources and though every effort has been made to ensure that it is up-to-date, its accuracy cannot be assured. Pallium India shall have no liability for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of reliance on the information provided.